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Athletes need to be careful to monitor diet, weight to maintain muscle mass

Athletes seeking a healthy performance weight should eat high fiber, low-fat food balanced with their training regimen in order to maintain muscle while still burning fat, according to a report by an Oregon State University researcher.

"Depending on the sport, athletes sometime want to either lose weight without losing lean tissue, or gain weight, mostly lean tissue," she said. "This is very difficult to do if you restrict caloric intake too dramatically or try to lose the weight too fast. Doing that also means they don't have the energy to exercise or they feel tired and put themselves at risk of injury."